St. Jean was facing three charges in the September 2012 attempt to smother his wife of 42 years, Diana St. Jean. He had pleaded guilty under the Alford Doctrine to the charge of attempt to commit murder.

During the pre-sentencing investigation, Diana St. Jean described her husband as "the kindest, gentlest person I've ever known ... he never raised a hand to me or even spoke to me in a threatening way before this happened ... It's all so surreal," according to court documents.

She said she does not believe her husband is a threat to her and added she is not frightened at all. She then requested a "term of probation" for her husband "instead of incarceration."

St. Jean was arrested Sept. 29, 2012, when New Milford police, responding to a 911 call, forced their way into the family home and followed Diana St. Jean's screams to the second-floor bedroom, according to court documents.

St. Jean was found standing with his back against the wall and his wife on the floor at his feet, police said. His wife told police she awoke about 3 a.m. to find her husband straddling her and trying to suffocate her with a pillow.

Asked why, St. Jean said, "I don't know," but later implied he felt overwhelmed by his wife's medical problems, police said. Diana St. Jean has struggled with cancer for years, court documents state.

According to the pre-sentencing investigation documents, the forensic psychiatrist who examined St. Jean said that he may have had "an altered state of mind ... causing him to deviate dramatically from his usual behavior."

That could have been "the result of the alcohol and larger dose of medication than had been prescribed for migraines," said the psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Chien, of the Yale School of Medicine.